I have a 19' bowrider and mounted the radar atop the wakeboard tower. I
normally set the range for .25 or .5 NM inside San Diego Bay and 1 NM in the
channel leading to the Ocean.
I haven't been more than a couple of miles out since adding the radar; I
don't think I'd be very concerned about anything more than 16 miles away.
As for constant bearing, you can watch that by setting the cursor on a
target, and observing if the target stays on the cursor line.
I looked at JRC, RayMarine and went with Furuno (1622) because that's what
most of the recreational and professional fishermen seem to be using here.
All three had radars with the same features in the same price range. I think
JRC used a CRT instead of an LCD, and I don't have the space for a big
display on my little instrument panel.
I mounted the display on a RAM universal base in front of the passenger
seat, visible and controllable from the drivers seat.
We rely on our eyes as lookouts, but check the radar to be sure we're not
overlooking anything.
I've been caught in very dense fog and it's comforting to be able to see the
coast, buoys, other ships on the radar as we follow our GPS.

"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Considering buying a radar, so I have a few questions:

1. On a sailboat, where do you put the display? I rarely steer from behind
the
wheel, mainly by sitting on one of the gunwales beside the wheel, or
sometimes
by Otto while hiding from the rain under the dodger (hence the
name... ).

2. Realistically, how far do you set the max range? I'm seeing that unless
I
mount the antenna up the mast, I'm not gonna get more than maybe 10 miles
range
no matter what unit I buy. Then again, if I see a freighter steaming at 30
knots, 10 miles away, I still have 20 minutes to do something. Is a
20-mile
range worth getting?

3. Do you trust yours enough to use it instead of a "watch" (ie watch the
radar
screen instead of where you're going)? Trying to decide if getting a radar
will
increase my cruising time significantly (ie more confidence in running at
night)

4. I see a "guard zone alarm" but no "constant-bearing alarm". Why not?
wouldn't
a constant-bearing alarm be far more useful (and not that hard to
implement)?

5. I'm looking at the Furuno 1623 or 1712, or the JRC 1000. I have a
Furuno
GP-31 GPS and I'm impressed by the quality (also, probably 90% of
commercial
boats around here have Furuno radars). Any comments?

6. Is it worth while to mount the antenna up the mast, or should I use a
"dedicated" mast at the transom?

That's all for now...dreaming on a dull winter's day...

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36